wilson northstar

[dladams76]

im looking for info on wilson northstar metal detectors.ive searched the net but have came up with little info.i recently purchased one and would like to know about it.whether it is preset ground balance or does it track the ground and compensate,depth ect ect..any info appreciated thanks daniel

 

[chuck ky]

n/t

 

[UK Brian]

This was Paul Wilson's follow up to the very successful Coin and Relic.

It had a bit of a reputation for going erratic at times. This could have been a battery problem. Only use good batteries. There was also a problem with the connector at the control box. It could be pulled out accidently if working in the woods and I don't think the electrics liked this.

Ground balance is fixed so you only have discrimination and sensitivity to worry about. Very good depth for a machine of its time and will hold its own today. Both machines had his own design "Hot Head" type coil, smaller than most stock coils but deep.
I didn't get to try one on the wet beach but the Coin & Relic performed better than most single frequency machines over wet salt. Hopefully the Northstar is the same.

He was in partnership at one time (years back !) which was when the Wilson Neuman detectors were produced. I didn't think their performance was up to much and it must have been in pre motion times. Your Northstar is very different and if working correctly will still deliver the goods. If you do a web search try and find a review for his "Coin Select" which is another interesting design.

 

[dladams76]

thanks for the reply..yes I'm definitely impressed with the depth..apparently it does track the ground and automatically adjust for ground conditions according to the pamphlet.also on the disc control it is labeled ground balance and then disc off and then it starts the disc scale as you turn further clockwise.seems to be well made also.I bought 2 of them just alike but one of them didn't work..I found a bad electolytic in it and when I replaced it it works again.but the disc doesn't seem right.I wonder if wilson still does any calibration on these and if not who would.definitely would be worth getting repaired.

 

[UK Brian]

I would contact him re calibration rather than having the machine not quite right (he must be thinking of retirement by now, so don't leave it to long). I didn't think it ground tracked but its years since I even saw one. There was a field test on the web a few years back but I can't find it and there's no report in the U.K. magazines of the time as the importer retired from detector sales just before the Northstar came on the market.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Paul Wilson has always produced a user friendly deep unit and used a Coin and relic years ago which even worked well on a saltwater beach...Sorry to say his newer units were all plastic and did not perform like what I used. I really don't know but felt my unit compensated for the conditions but really don't know if it ground tracked and have no knowledge of the Wilson Northstar as he sells mostly overseas and little is known of his company in the States even though several U.S. outfits sell them. Indeed because of his age see Paul retiring one of these days and don't know if the company will shut down or be run by one of his people...

 

[dladams76]

yeah most detectors are made of plastic nowdays..even top models..I'm a fan of older more solid feeling detectors also......I guess its cheaper and lighter to go with plastic..the one that works is pretty impressive as far as depth goes.I haven't tried it on the beach but according to the manual it should work..I guess the fact that they are shipped overseas is the reason you can't find much info on them.all I've found are a couple of reviews but no factual comparisons ect..I tried the phone number that I had found for wilson but it was no good.I don't know if keith w works on these or not